Vancouverites fight back against rioters through social media

Vancouver residents place messages of support on a police cruiser on Granville St following the riot after the Canucks Stanley defeat by thye Boston Bruins, in Vancouver, on June 17, 2011.Nick Procaylo
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Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and B.C. Premier Christy Clark at the memory wall on the side of the Hudsons Bay building during the next morning aftermath of the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver, B.C. on June 16, 2011.Ian Smith
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Citizens armed with plastic bags and brooms swept up broken glass, litter and trash downtown this morning after last night's Stanley Cup riot. They worked alongside Vancouver City crews, who worked through the night and reported 90 per cent of the mess had been cleared by noon.David Warburton
/ Special to the Vancouver Sun

The glass is removed from the Sears building during the next morning aftermath of the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver, B.C. on June 16, 2011.Ian Smith
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People write messages on boards on the side of the Bay the morning after the riots.Ian Smith
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People take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.Jason Payne
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Riot police walk the street as a couple kiss on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, as the city broke out in riots, following the Vancouver Canucks loss in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.Richard Lam
/ Getty Images

Police officers in riot gear patrol Vancouver, British Columbia streets during a cleanup of the damage June 16, 2011 as a result of rioting after the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7, the final and deciding game of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Boston Bruins on June 15, 2011.Mark van Manen
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People take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.Arlen Redekop
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Vancouver Canucks fans riot after their team lost to the Boston Bruins in NHL Stanley Cup final in Vancouver , B.C. June 15, 2011.Arlen Redekop
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Vancouver Canucks fans riot after their team lost to the Boston Bruins in NHL Stanley Cup final in Vancouver , B.C. June 15, 2011.Arlen Redekop
/ PNG

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VANCOUVER - Social media is all about sharing: thoughts, memories, and to the chagrin of Wednesday night rioters, evidence.

Pictures, videos and posts detailing every step of the riot began to appear on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter within minutes of the first signs of trouble. The quantity of digital evidence already posted to the internet is enormous and police believe it will help them track down those responsible for the violence.

Some of the earliest digital notice that trouble was pending came in the form of tweets.

Twitter user TomMcGarry tweeted “Time to riot,” around the time that the Canucks’ game seven loss became a certainty.

While it is difficult to discern sarcasm from honesty in posts like these, visual evidence of acts of violence are far more telling.

As rioters smashed windows and lit fires, witnesses soon flooded social media sights with digital content. Photos and videos of perpetrators appeared in real-time on Tumblr, Flicker and other photo blogging sites.

Robert Gorcak created a Facebook page titled “Vancouver Riot Pics: Post Your Photos,” within 10 minutes of game end. He said he created the page to gather photos of the perpetrators in the hopes of bringing them to justice.

“I had a funny feeling that there was going to be some people out there who wanted to start trouble,” said Gorcak on Thursday. “I was just so disappointed [when the riot started].”

Gorcak’s page had been “liked” by nearly 70,000 people by Thursday evening. Hundreds of photos have been posted on the page documenting people looting stores, setting fires, and smashing property.

Some fans of the page have also taken screen capture photos of Facebook status updates made by smug hooligans, including one who bragged he “punched a f---en pig in head with riot gear on knocked him to the ground” and “burnt some smart cars.”

The Vancouver Police Department released a statement Wednesday thanking individuals for sharing their digital evidence.

“The response from the public wanting to help the police identify the individuals involved in last night’s criminal activity has been overwhelming,” it read.

UBC Okanagan social media expert Christopher Schneider said police face a different challenge sorting out the turbulence and aftermath from Wednesday’s riot than they did 17 years ago, in 1994.

He said only a small handful of television crews documented the ruckus at that time and that footage became crucial parts of a subsequent investigation that took weeks.

Schneider said that this time around, the riots unfolded on the streets and on social media simultaneously, leaving behind a moment-by-moment roadmap to the disturbance.

He said police are now dealing with a “whole treasure trove of data,” much of it self-disclosed by rioters, that will aid in their investigation.

Schneider suggested many people posting content simply wanted to witness the riot and “document their experience.”

Others, ostensibly, were more interested in cataloguing acts of mischief.

According to one screen shot that was uploaded to Gorcak’s page captured a Facebook post that read “did exactly what I planned to do if we lost... f--k yeah free stuff- hectic night. good s--t.”

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Vancouver police has requested anyone with videos or photos of criminal activity during Wednesday night's riot to send them to: robbery@vpd.ca.

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Vancouverites fight back against rioters through social media

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